Wednesday, April 29, 2015

On April 24 WTAP TV of Parkersburg, West Virginia, aired a report of a pit bull attack on a 4-year old child. The tape shows an apparently un-neutered male pit bull mastiff mix weighing at least 90 pounds. According to initial accounts the dog's "teeth were around the child's face. Her head was practically in its mouth," said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks.

The attack perforated the unidentified child's cheek, who lost several teeth in the attack. There were additional punctures under the child's eyes. She was initially taken to Marietta Memorial Hospital, then life-flighted to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, where she was listed in serious condition.

Sergeant Kelly McGilton serves as the dog warden for the Washington County, Ohio, Sheriff's Department. When asked about the attack Sgt McGilton said the dog was not trying to hurt the child. She continued:

"In my opinion, this was not a vicious attack. This was an annoyance bite. The mere size and power of a pitbull/mastiff mix, is what caused a substantial injury to the child's face." said McGilton.

Dr Ian Dunbar's Dog Bite Assessment Scale is the tool used to assess the severity of dog attacks based on an objective evaluation of wound pathology. According to reports of the 4-year old victim's wounds, the child suffered a level four attack; level six results in the death of the victim.

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Sgt McGilton's characterization of a level 4 attack as an "annoyance bite" is grossly misleading: it's not possible for Sgt McGilton to know the pit bull's motives for the attack. In other reports Sgt McGilton suggests that the 4-year old victim may have been responsible for her own injuries, by annoying the dog. The officer goes on to say that the attack was not breed-related.

It's clear from Sgt McGilton's comments that she views the attack from the perspective of the attacking dog, rather than from the perspective of the 4-year old victim or the victim's family, or from the perspective of public safety.

The role of public safety officers, including Dog Wardens and Animal Control Officers, has been irrevocably changed by the advent of high stakes pit bull advocacy. Dog Wardens and Animal Control Officers, who have historically been charged with protecting the public health and safety, are no longer fulfilling that role. Too many of these officers now ignore their responsibility to the public and instead use their positions to advocate for fighting breeds.

There is a clear need for councils and commissioners to assert their authority over these positions. Municipal leaders must assure their citizens that the first responsibility of all public safety employees is to protect the citizens of their community. Any public employee who promotes fighting breeds over the safety of the public should be subject to disciplinary action or removal.

Deputy Jerrod Hankins of the Portage County dog warden said that there is no law that can be applied to dogs killing livestock, and that the dog owner is permitted to keep the dog who killed the llamas.

Statistics:
Statistics quoted on SRUV are from the nation's authoritative source for current dog attack statistics, the 30+ year, continuously updated Dog attack deaths and maimings, U.S. & Canada.View or download the current PDF

Definitions:
SRUV uses the definition of "pit bull" as found in the Omaha Municipal Code Section 6-163. As pit bulls are increasingly crossed with exotic mastiffs, Catahoula Leopard Dogs and other breeds, the vernacular definition of "pit bull" must be made even more inclusive.

Sources cited by news media sometimes refer to "Animal Advocates" or sometimes "Experts." In many cases these words are used to refer to single-purpose pit bull advocates who have never advocated for any other breeds or species of animals. Media would be more accurate to refer to these pit bull advocates as advocates of fighting breeds.

Similarly, in many cases pit bull advocates refer to themselves as "dog lovers" or "canine advocates" and media often accepts this usage. The majority of these pit bull advocates are single-purpose advocates of fighting breeds.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

One hour east of Springfield, Missouri lies the small town of Lebanon. The towns of Lebanon, Camdenton, and Osage Beach are spread along a forty-mile stretch of highway running north from Lebanon. The small town of Bolivar lies 30 miles north of Springfield. Imagine these towns as the face of a clock with Springfield as the axis where the hands meet; Bolivar would be 12 o'clock, Osage Beach is at 1 o'clock, Camdenton at 2 o'clock, and Lebanon is at 3 o'clock.

These Missouri towns are all, in various ways, responding to a horrifying pit bull attack five months ago.

On Saturday, November 8, 2014, Rick Taylor swung by his home in Lebanon for his lunch break. The Taylors babysit their granddaughter Mia, whose single mother lives in Bolivar. Three-year old Mia had grown up with the Taylor's five-year old American bulldog, which had never before demonstrated aggression and has been described as her best friend. As Taylor was in the house finishing lunch he heard a growl and turned to see the 105-pound American Bulldog latched onto Mia's face and neck.

On November 13, 2014, the Springfield News-Leader carried an extensive account of the attack on Mia. After the attack Mia was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Lebanon. From there she was transported to Mercy Hospital in Springfield and eventually to a specialist at the University of Missouri Women's and Children's Hospital in Columbia. Once there Mia was placed in an induced coma and had her first of at least three surgeries on Sunday morning.

In early December Mia underwent several skin graft operations at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati. A portion of Mia's initial medical expenses were covered by a crowdfunding appeal. The Lake Stockton Shriners has committed to covering all of Mia's medical expenses until she reaches 18 years of age.

Mia Kraft before the attack

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The breed that later became known as the American Bulldog was nearly extinct by the end of WWII. John D Johnson of Georgia began a breeding program and recreated the dog known today as the American Bulldog. Johnson created his dog through selective breeding and judicious outcrossing.

The American Bulldog was first registered with the NKC in 1970 as the American Pit Bulldog; it was later renamed American Bulldog to avoid confusion with the American Pit Bull Terrier. American Bulldogs were recognized as a separate breed by the UKC only 15 years ago.

There are several reasons that American Bulldogs are sometimes confused with pit bulls. They are a recent breed and not yet well known, except among fanciers of fighting breeds. They constitute a small percentage of the overall canine population. And finally, they look like a pit bull crossed with a mastiff, which they are.

Despite the relative scarcity of the American Bulldog, the breed has been involved in a number of attacks, notably in the United Kingdom. The most recent fatal American Bulldog attack was the death of 64-year old Rhona Grieve, who was killed by her grandson's American Bulldog in Cardiff on March 20, 2015. 8-year old Leon Montiel of Miami, Florida was mauled on April 9, 2015.

According to Dogsbite.org, American Bulldogs were among the top three breeds (along with pit bulls and rottweilers) responsible for fatal attacks in a recent reporting period.

Another pit bull variant, the American Bully, was established as a separate breed and recognized by the UKC in 2013. American Bulldogs, American Bullies, American Pit Bull Terriers -- and the crossbreeds of all these breeds -- are all fighting breeds. And they are all pit bull type dogs. A pit bull by any other name is still a pit bull.

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On November 13, five days after the attack on Mia, on the same day the News-Leader published their account of the attack, while Mia was still in an induced coma, the Camdenton Lake News published an editorial opinion calling for a relaxation of the town's Breed Specific Legislation. A few days later the Osage Beach LakeExpo also ran an article on the Camdenton BSL.

The editorials and articles are part of a statewide effort by Missouri advocates of fighting breeds to roll back public safety laws. Advocates in Springfield and Independence began campaigns to roll back BSL in January, 2015. A number of cities have submitted to the demands of the advocates, while dozens of other cities across the country have recently enacted BSL, or upheld, strengthened, or defended existing BSL ordinances.

According to the LakeExpo, Misty Brown of Camdenton had received a citation for illegally harboring two pit bull type dogs.

On November 18th, Ms Brown appealed to the Camdenton Board of Aldermen for an exemption from the ban, on the grounds that her dogs were not pit bulls. As proof Ms Brown produced papers which purportedly proved that her dogs were AKC registered American Bulldogs, the same breed that attacked Mia a few miles down the road the previous week.

The claim by Ms Brown that her dogs are registered by the American Kennel Club is in error or is fraudulent. The AKC does not register the American Bulldog.1 It's doubtful that Ms Brown will be able to clarify the issue for us; according to the Lake Expo she no longer resides in Camdenton.

Postscript:
On April 1, 2015 4-year old Gavin Tobeck of Lacy, Washington, was mauled by Smash, a 102 lb. dog that Gavin's mother had recently adopted from a friend of a neighbor. Authorities originally reported that Smash was an American Bulldog. Susanne Beauregard, director of Thurston County Animal Services, now says that Smash is a “Pit Bull XL,” a line of pit bulls bred to be extra large.The Olympian, April 9, 2015

* * * * *Notes:1 The AKC recognizes and registers only the Bulldog (the mascot of the University of Georgia Bulldogs; the Bulldog is a sweet-natured breed with short-legs, a flat nose and wrinkled face) and the French Bulldog.

Mia suffered gruesome injuries from the mauling and had surgery on Sunday in Columbia. She awoke from a medically induced coma on Wednesday but is still in the intensive care unit at the University of Missouri Women's and Children's Hospital recovering from injuries to her face and neck area.

Pit bulls had constituted the majority of our vicious dog problems, and the number of pit bulls had continued to grow," says Ron Boyer, assistant director of health for Springfield, Mo., where the City Council passed a law in April requiring pit bulls to be registered. "This was prompted in the beginning because of a number of serious attacks we had in Springfield, primarily on small children. ... (Now) we have an immediate mechanism to deal with the problem.

Definitions:
SRUV uses the definition of "pit bull" as found in the Omaha Municipal Code Section 6-163. As pit bulls are increasingly crossed with exotic mastiffs, Catahoula Leopard Dogs and other breeds, the vernacular definition of "pit bull" must be made even more inclusive.

Sources cited by news media sometimes refer to "Animal Advocates" or sometimes "Experts." In many cases these words are used to refer to single-purpose pit bull advocates who have never advocated for any other breeds or species of animals. Media would be more accurate to refer to these pit bull advocates as advocates of fighting breeds.

Similarly, in many cases pit bull advocates refer to themselves as "dog lovers" or "canine advocates" and media often accepts this usage. The majority of these pit bull advocates are single-purpose advocates of fighting breeds.